Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 16, 2015

Mar. 10, 2015

Luggage companies display their new smart suitcases and bags at International Travel Goods Show in Las Vegas; lines feature GPS tracking and other digital features. MORE

Mar. 9, 2015

Prospective New York City taxi drivers will no longer face rigorous 80-question geography test; New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission officials say new, simplified exam acknowledges emergence of GPS navigation, allowing test to cover more safety issues; industry experts say new test also reflects need to compete with emerging services like Uber and Lyft, whose drivers are not required to obtain hack licenses. MORE

Jul. 27, 2014

Garmin HUD+ is a portable unit that projects information drivers can see while looking through the windshield; by creating illusion of image floating over car's hood, technology lets drivers get vital information without taking their eyes off the road. MORE

Jul. 20, 2014

Dispatch column by Steven Kurutz identifies the pleasures of using physical maps when traveling, as opposed to navigation software and GPS systems. MORE

Jun. 16, 2014

Transportation Department is seeking explicit authority from Congress to regulate automobile navigation aids of all types, including apps on smartphones; move is part of department's intensifying battle against distracted driving, and has support of automakers, who already comply with voluntary guidelines for built-in navigation systems. MORE

Jun. 3, 2014

Some companies are developing digital alternatives to paper luggage tags, as luggage becomes increasingly indistinguishable; digital tags, which use GPS and work through smartphone app, not only find lost bags, but also make check-in quicker. MORE

Jun. 2, 2014

Russian Deputy Prime Min Dmitri O Rogozin, who is in charge of space programs, says he has begun imposing restrictions on country's Global Positioning System base stations as retribution for United States' refusal to allow similar base stations on American territory that would benefit Russia; announcement comes as another sign of souring relations between countries. MORE

May. 4, 2014

Law enforcement officials are increasingly worried that people are putting themselves in danger by using GPS tracking apps to track down stolen smartphones without police assistance; police officials have advocated for so-called 'kill switch' that would render stolen smartphones inoperable to make them less attractive to thieves. MORE

Apr. 25, 2014

Nokia’s Here mapping system is leader in car navigation, making it tantalizing as potential multibillion-dollar takeover target, as it faces future without being player in global phone business for first time in more than three decades; completion of sale of its handset business to Microsoft for $7.5 billion puts spotlight of what remains of Finnish company. MORE

Dec. 29, 2013

Measure in new defense budget bill virtually bars construction of Russian monitoring stations on United States soil; proposition is one that Russia says would improve their version of Global Positioning System but that critics fear could be used for espionage. MORE

Dec. 22, 2013

StarChase develops GPS launcher, unit that law-enforcement agencies can use to attach tracking device to lawbreaker's car without having to leave their patrol cars; vehicle can then be followed on computer screen rather than in high-speed pursuit. MORE

Nov. 17, 2013

Central Intelligence Agency and Pentagon have been quietly waging campaign to stop State Department from allowing Russian space agency Roscosmos to build structures known as monitor stations on United States soil; intelligence officials fear that the structures, which Russia says are for their version of the Global Positioning System, could be used to spy on the US. MORE

Nov. 3, 2013

Anne Eisenberg Novelties column; new devices for keeping tabs on small children use GPS, Wi-Fi and other location-tracking technology and can be linked to apps on a parent’s phone. MORE

Aug. 17, 2013

Editorial calls for the Justice Department to make public its official guidance on the use of GPS location tracking devices; states Americans have a right to know. MORE

Jul. 10, 2013

iExit, an app that works with a car’s GPS, doesn’t give directions, but does give drivers a comprehensive list of services at exits up ahead. MORE

May. 21, 2013

Garmin’s Nuvi GPS now links to the iPhone using an app to add functions to the GPS. But some of those added functions cost extra, and some may not be worth the expense. MORE

Mar. 15, 2013

Coca-Cola says it is cooperating with Chinese authorities investigating whether its employees engaged in illegal mapping using GPS devices in Yunnan Province. MORE

Feb. 17, 2013

Real Directions feature available on six of Garmin's GPS devices gives spoken driving directions based on landmarks rather than street names. MORE

Feb. 7, 2013

European Union’s commitment to Galileo, global positioning project designed to end reliance on America’s navigation system, is to be decided at budget talks. MORE

Feb. 4, 2013

Op-Ed article by author Emily Anthes maintains communication technologies like satellite and cellular tags provide vast trove of information about animals; expresses hope that public outpouring of grief over wolf 832F, animal wearing GPS tracking collar who was shot and killed by a hunter, raises awareness about wolves' struggles and leads to more interest in their well-being. MORE

Jan. 16, 2013

New York Police Department says it will stock pharmacy shelves with decoy pill bottles that contain tracking devices in effort to catch and deter addicts who steal painkillers; response to increase in pharmacy robberies and burglaries over last decade seems to draw its inspiration from tactic banks use. MORE

Dec. 21, 2012

Federal Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle rules that prosecutors are allowed to use evidence in drug convictions that had been overturned because police used Global Positioning System device to track suspect without warrant; ruling contradicts previous ruling that was affirmed by Supreme Court. MORE

Nov. 20, 2012

Constitutional lawyers are closely watching case in which police officers pursuing suspected bank robber Christian Paetsch in Aurora, Colo, used GPS device to set up a roadblock that detained innocent drivers; Paetsch's lawyers argue evidence seized from his vehicle should be thrown out on grounds that roadblock violated Fourth Amendment. MORE

Oct. 25, 2012

Several GPS devices on the market allow parents and spouses to keep track of loved ones and pets; while trackers have a bad reputation, in many cases they can help. MORE

Oct. 4, 2012

Kit Eaton App Smart column highlights mapping and navigation apps that are better options than Google and Apple apps. MORE

Sep. 25, 2012

Ocearch, a nonprofit organization that facilitates research on oceans and fish, is capturing and tagging great white sharks off Cape Cod with GPS to study their movements online in an effort to understand their migratory patterns and breeding habits and better protect them. MORE

Sep. 23, 2012

Editorial criticizes a federal court decision that found that there was no constitutional violation when authorities used location data from a suspect's cellphone to secure evidence that led to the suspect's conviction; warns that the decision will obliterate privacy rights, and urges the court to rehear the case and reverse the decision. MORE

Sep. 2, 2012

Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau’s idyllic retreat in the woods of Concord, Mass, remains hard to find, despite 21st-century navigational conveniences; Google maps and some GPS devices have been leading a number of travelers to the wrong Walden: an identically named reservoir, next to a golf course, in Lynn. MORE

Sep. 2, 2012

Randall Stross Digital Domain column highlights study illustrating that a drawback of GPS technology is that it could be causing drivers to become too docile as their navigational skills atrophy; points out that researchers videotaped drivers using GPS technology, and human error was responsible for many of the problems that occurred. MORE

Aug. 14, 2012

Op-Ed article by mountaineer and author David Roberts warns that the proliferation of modern technological devices like cellphones and personal locator beacons are emboldening more and more back-country hikers to be more careless and go where they should not be. MORE

May. 3, 2012

Government officials in South Korea accuse North Korea of sending out jamming signals apparently in an attempt to disrupt civilian and military air and ground traffic in South Korea, forcing 252 commercial flights to switch off their global positioning devices. MORE

May. 2, 2012

Researchers from National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy attach GPS tag to male osprey at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, allowing wildlife managers and the public to track its daily movements; group plans to start new Web site to follow the progress of the once-threatened bird of prey that has become a symbol of ecological recovery. MORE

Feb. 15, 2012

Pres Obama signs legislation that finances the modernization of the nation’s aviation system, speeding up the switch from radar to an air traffic control system based on GPS technology. MORE

Feb. 15, 2012

Federal Communications Commission revokes conditional approval for a proposed wireless broadband network that would provide voice and Internet service using airwaves once reserved for satellite-telephone transmissions; cites interference with GPS technology as reason for reversal after an opinion from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees telecommunications policy at the Commerce Department; LightSquare, the company pushing for the network, disagrees with the results of testing that led to decision. MORE

Feb. 5, 2012

Jan. 29, 2012

Sales of GPS trackers to employers and individuals, for a multitude of largely unregulated uses, are growing fast, raising new questions about privacy and a legal system that has not kept pace with technology; GPS trackers are increasingly being cited in cases of criminal stalking and civil violations of privacy, but even if done legally and out of concern for family members, the covert use of GPS devices poses ethical questions. MORE

Jan. 29, 2012

Op-Ed article by New York University law Professor Barry Friedman argues that the Supreme Court's decision to protect constitutional liberty from intrusive police use of technology may have been celebrated too quickly; asserts that the decision, along with other recent decisions, allows for the possibility that fundamental rights may be curtailed according to society's prevailing view on expectations of privacy, which may in turn be narrowed by the expanded use of technology. MORE

Jan. 26, 2012

Editorial welcomes Supreme Court ruling that police violated Constitutional rights of Antoine Jones by using GPS technology in his car to monitor his movements but contends decision is far too narrow; holds that by basing their ruling on the Constitution's prohibition of trespass, rather than its protection of privacy, court leaves citizens vulnerable to monitoring by a host of new technologies. MORE

Jan. 24, 2012

Supreme Court unanimously rules that Washington, DC, police violated the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches when they placed a GPS tracking device on the car of suspected drug dealer Antoine Jones without a valid warrant; decision places a significant burden on law enforcement surveillance techniques widely used in the digital age, although authorities remain free to seek warrants from judges authorizing surveillance. MORE

Jan. 12, 2012

Metropolitan Transportation Authority introduces MTA Bus Time, a service that uses GPS transmitters to inform riders of a bus’s location from their desktop computer or cellphone, to Staten Island. MORE

Dec. 20, 2011

GPS watches used by runners to track distance and pace are often inexact, leading to discrepancies with official courses and widespread frustration. MORE

Nov. 10, 2011

Two audits by the New York City comptroller find that fire and sanitation departments overpaid to install in their trucks custom-made GPS tracking units that do not even work properly; Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration acknowledges that it has mismanaged its major information-technology projects and vows to improve oversight. MORE

Nov. 9, 2011

Supreme Court struggles to articulate how the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures should apply to the tracking of cars using GPS devices; case concerns Antoine Jones, nightclub owner who was convicted of dealing cocaine and given a life sentence based on evidence from a GPS device that police had attached to his car without a warrant. MORE

Nov. 6, 2011

Editorial notes that the Supreme Court will be hearing a case involving police using GPS tracking technology without a warrant to track a suspect's movements; warns that unless the Supreme Court requires the government to get a warrant for GPS tracking the police will be free to monitor a person's movements without limit. MORE

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that the police violated the Constitution when they placed a Global Positioning System tracking device on a suspect’s car and tracked its movements for 28 days.